Angel of Devestation
by TheManTimeForgot
Summary: Part 9 of The Nexus Crusade: Motorball is confronted by Omega, and he has eyes on only one target...Alita! Can she beat this new foe?
1. Chapter 1

"Gamma _has _to be cheating, he has to be."

Going through another one-on-one training session, the first one since leaving Beach City, Gamma went from being a minor nuisance to a devastating force to face in battle. He moved faster than any of us could catch, borderline teleporting from one place to another, and using tricks none of us had never seen before. Even with my powerful body, I couldn't chase him down. Coming down with my saber he merely moved away in a blur and threw his kunai at me. Blocking it with my gauntlet, it hit like a cannon, and I was knocked off balance. The last thing I saw was the swing of a glassy black fist.

I woke up some time later on the ground, and Gamma helped me up. I laughed to myself.

"At this rate, you might beat us all."

Gamma looked out at the distance. "I can't yet."

_"Just take the complement!" _Psyche admonished through our channels. _"None of the others move or fight like you."_

"That's because I understand the nature of this universe. I need to teach you practical application while Upsilon works on theoretical data. Also I need to learn about your curse."

The curse was always on his mind, and his arm in the form of a obsidian growth. Rho now had to summon his armor by force of will, Upsilon got off really well with an array of holograms powered by thought. Whatever I had, it hasn't showed itself.

"I'm not sure if either of those two anticipated me being not entirely human." I guessed. "Could the curse have failed or backfired?"

"Hmm…" His thoughts raced when a flash of light brought another door to us. Bringing the rest of the guys around, we investigated. The doors we first went through were wooden, but this one was a hodgepodge of metal. In one of the crevices, Upsilon found a piece of paper with a few words.

_Omega comes alone._

_-Hild_

Next to her signature was a strange geometric shape. Upsilon magnified the shape and Gamma scoffed at it.

"You know this sign?" Upsilon asked.

"It's her personal sigil. To manipulate reality like she does, extremely powerful 'programs' are used, which are displayed with similar shapes."

"I need some way to translate it. Is there a way to turn it into something that can be used?"

"There is no key or cipher known to man, and even if you decrypted it into any human language it would cover every surface of my lab."

"Then there is a pattern in the shapes I need to find. Most likely Hild will not give us more samples."

Rho moved between the two, catching their attention."We can worry about that later! But we can't just give in to these demands!" Summoning his armor, he threw his weight against the door and was violently hurled away. Printed on his chestplate was a sentence in a unknown language.

I look to Upsilon. "What's it say?"

"It is some sort of Norse variant; it says 'Please don't.'"

Gamma sighed and lazily flipped his hand at the door.

"Just go."

I opened the door and stepped through on the other side into a junkyard filled with various machines. Lost, I climbed up one of the piles to find any landmarks.

"Hey Dead Man, any ideas?"

The disembodied voice of my predecessor, Mark Lore, echoed through my head.

_"Listen…"_

Besides the banging of the metal beneath my feet, there was a strange groaning in the air. Looking around I saw humongous wires reaching up to the sky. Above me was a structure blocking out most of the sky raining trash down upon the land. I rose up into the air and was immediately shot by an unknown source. Taking no significant damage thanks to the armor, I landed on another pile.

"I'm here now!" I shouted out. "What do you want me to do!"

A piece of paper struck my face, almost knocking me down. Pulling it off, I took a closer look at it. It depicted a teenage girl in maroon armor, back to the viewer and her head turned so half. Her face was focused and rather round with full lips and brown eyes with dark paint running down her cheeks. Her shoulders had the number ninety-nine on them and there were blades along either forearm, the greys swirling around themselves. There were words along with the picture.

_Alita 'The Killing Angel' Tears up the Second League! Watch the carnage only in the Scrapyard!_

It was a promotional flyer for some kind of sporting event. When I looked up I saw lights in the distance from a bustling city. Beyond it shone the Star of Misfortune, a constant reminder of the one who seeks to shackle me. I began the long walk to those lights.

_"You think that's what Hild sent us here for?"_

"I don't care if she sent me here to die! She won't control my fate!"

_"And this 'Killing Angel' has nothing to do with this?"_

I laughed a good laugh from the soul. "There's only room for one killer in the universe; doesn't matter which one. It's time to clip this angel's wings!"


	2. Hard to Catch, Harder to Chase

The Scrapyard is a maddening place, equal to any Hive in existence. In it, only the toughest gain a foothold within its core. Besides the Hunter-Killers, the strongest were the Motorball players, and some of its best were marching down the street. Crowds of people lined the walkways to check out the icons of the sport:

The champion of the Second League, 'Caligula' Armblessed making a show of sharpening his claws and whirring the chains on his arms.

Zafal 'Crimson Wind' Takie' was scanning everything around her, but was polite and waved to anyone who asked.

Tiegel, the former 'Shame of the Second' acted tough, but was on the verge of tears at being counted among such incredible players. Bringing up the rear didn't matter to him, as long as he got to be here.

Ajakutty was his typical brash self, bellowing taunts and proclaiming victory for his team. New detailing made his green body stand out even more. But perhaps this was because of the person beside him. She was small next to the rest of them, but for the time being she was the one they followed.

Alita, or at least that's what people call her now, was unconcerned, only focus on the assignment ahead. After making it to the Second League, she was hell-bent on fighting the best the sport could offer, it just happened that she needed a five man team to do it. They were already the best, all that was left was the fine tuning, and that meant at trip at the local stadium for practice. An improvised parade was a distraction she didn't need or want.

Even though it was supposed to be empty the track had one occupant on it. He was a white haired man in standard gear painted black with red stripes running laps. As he came around turn two, they could see a bright red light on his right ankle. The entire team jumped down to head him off at the finish line. Takie' got there first, stopping the stranger cold. He tried to turn around, but was confronted by Tiegel while the rest surrounded him.

"You've got a lot of balls to be here knowing full well we had this place reserved." Armblessed said.

The stranger turned to face him and gave him a large smile. "You guys aren't easy to contact, and I've come quite away to meet you. Or rather your leader." He then swung around to Alita.

"Well it's truly a honor to meet the Killing Angel herself." He held his hand out, but she didn't shake it. "Call me Omega. The Third League still tell stories of the former champion. It's why I got into Motorball."

"Well you're welcome," She said. "But if your looking to flatter your way onto the team, I'm afraid to say that there's no more room for you."

"Don't worry, I've heard about you match with Jashugan. High hopes for a team that hasn't fought together before."

"And that means?"

"It _means_ I've seen the tapes on Jashugan; he's a machine, with a machine's precision. I'll take just as much to beat him, running formations on an empty track won't do anything. You're going to need a training dummy so use me for now."

There was a silence between the two as they stared each other down. After a while she walked to the starting blocks and got into the set position. Alita craned her head to speak.

"Get into place everyone!"

Ajakutty moved next to her. "Sister, are you sure about this guy?"

"You may not like him, but he is right; if it was just us and your students we wouldn't be here, but because of Caligula we have to make due." Alita reasoned. "In any event, a few rounds with this guy can't hurt can it Ajy? You might even have some fun." A grin spread on her face, in the presence of a new competitor.


	3. Quickening

_"I'm starting to question your sanity."_

"Don't worry Mark, I can deal with these guys easily." I said as pressed my feet into the starting blocks, the engines below my feet sending its vibrations through my body. This here: the anticipation of speed, the enemy around me, and that feeling of aggression to feed on is amazing. When this whole Hild ordeal is over, I might have to come back…

_"Hello? Killer cyborgs waiting to beat you to a bloody pulp, wake up!"_

My head snapped forward to begin the practice lap; the track was a standard oval, although the last turn was deceptively wide. My path took me around all five of them, they're energy so faint as their brains were the only major organ any of them had left. Approaching Alita I wondered what on Earth could make someone so young give up so much of her flesh. She acts so serious in all her races, and yet here I could see so much excitement on her face that I almost chuckled.

The Motorball was launched onto the ground and I leapt to it immediately only to be crowded out by Tiegel right before I got my hands on it. He kept me close to the wall as the rest of them zoomed by, missing the ball around the first turn.

"You're not getting past me!" The giant said, and he was right, he was too large to move around and too well armored to hit effectively. Worst of all Tiegel was slow, and all the time I'm spending behind him keeps me further from my target.

"So sure are you?" I shot back as we came around the turn ourselves and as we entered the straightaway I put on a burst of speed and jumped. I came down just in front of Tiegel, and I flashed a smirk looking back at his gasping face as I sped off. Halfway down the track, Armblessed and Takie' moved in to intercept me from Ajakutty and Alita, who had the ball. With a flash of sparks Armblessed's chainsaws whipped through the air. Each of them scored my armor, causing superficial scratches but they didn't hit anything vital.

_"Watch it! Unlike them you're still flesh and bone!"_

"Are you going to keep doing this?" I lunged low to get to Takie' and keep Caligula off me, but she broke off, turned quickly to the side and shoved me quickly off balance. I couldn't afford to slow down anymore so I brought out my sabers to fight my way through. Stabbing at Takie' was met with counterattacks so fast that even my reflexes were taxed.

_"Left!"_

I moved without a second thought, and sawblades passed by; close enough for me to have lost my arm if I hadn't moved.

"Finally decided to help out?" I quipped. As Armblessed revved up for another offensive, I cut him off and slashed at his upper arm, destroying the motors to his chains. Fragments of high-speed metal pinged off of my armor and forced Takie' into a bad angle, leaving her left leg exposed on the last turn of the second lap. Taking the inside line I swiped low, cutting deep into the leg, crippling her famous speed.

"See?" I thought. "If you stop panicking and help out more, I can get us through this."

_"You still have two opponents_ _to beat and only one lap to do it in!"_

"Then let's get it on!" Pushing the Amplifier as far as I could I rushed headlong into the pair of Ajakutty and Alita. They shared a glance and a few words before Ajakutty broke off and moved into a ready stance similar to Rho. As I approached him, he rolled onto his back and aimed a kick to my chest. Deflecting the blow with my arm, I almost fell and was nearly brought down by his following kick to my shin, but I was able to avoid it and wound him at his waist as he got up. That left three turns to face my real target.

Alita spotted me coming up fast behind her and cast the motorball aside. I had disregarded it, not wanting to burden myself with trying to handle it and fight her at the same time. The blades on her arms meant she had to completely turn around in order to confront me. My first strike was effortlessly parried, the Neo-Bronze not even leaving a scratch. Looking closer at her weapons as turn one approached I saw that it was a patchwork of metals blended into each other as if it were still being forged. Breaking my concentration was the squealing of tires behind me.

"You'll not beat me so easily!" Ajakutty bashed into me, and then swung his gauntlet holding the heavy motorball at my head. I grabbed the arm, and used the momentum to turn him around and force him into a over the shoulder throw. He careened into the wall in turn two and went through the fencing. I could only smile as I slid into the motorball, not to catch it, but to keep it in contention as Alita and I came into the straightaway. She was a quick purple flash; smaller than me and unbelievably skilled. Darting in, jinking out, my superhuman genetics against her mechanical servos. Somewhere in the duel I saw her face, the face of a young woman grinning madly, her emotions exploding out of her eyes.

The last two turns came up and even though I was having so much fun winning was a concern, so during an evasion I picked up the ball and used it to block another slash to my midsection and used the gap to clinch. The small frame she had wasn't close to being strong enough to break off. With the ball in my hand and Alita unable to take it from me, I couldn't lose. And then a shadow appeared over the two of us.

Tigel had ben lumbering behind us all this time, and only now he became a problem again. Alita came free of my slacken grip and pounded on his side as she came around.

"Hey! wanna get back at this guy?"

Once she got clear, he swung out with a giant hand I couldn't clear while I was encumbered with the ball. The blow knocked me off of my feet and I bounced off of the wall, and tumbled down the last straight and to a halt before the finish line. My vision was stained red and I was pretty sure that everything in my body was broken, but yet I got up, looked up at an angry Tigel looking to run me over, and brought a shaking sword up to keep fighting.

_"Athanor…what are you doing?" _Said a fading voice in my head.

"Come on…come on…" I didn't pay attention to Mark, I was beyond caring about anything else right now. "I WILL NOT DIE HERE!"

Tigel didn't stop, and I didn't move and yet I was floating out of his path. Before I knew it he was screaming past me. The last thing I remember was gazing up at Alita before passing out.

* * *

Tigel came to a skittering stop and wheeled to face her holding Omega. "W-wait! Why'd you save him?"

"It's training Tigel, no one needs to die."

"This upstart made us look like fools!" Caligula caught up with them, Zafal close behind. "But he's brave at the very least."

Ajakutty rolled in after them. "True, but his skill and speed are above average for a Third Leaguer. What do you think Sister?"

"He's got a ton of raw talent, but a little more pride than common sense." Alita said, glancing down at him. "A few more runs and he'll get sharper."

Zafal snapped her fingers to bring their attention to her, and then turned Omega's head over to see half of his face scraped off, the stimulus causing him to wheeze.

* * *

I came to in a hospital bed, the lights a little bright to my eyes at the moment. Touching my right temple brought a sharp sting of my pain to my brain and moving anything was stiff and aching. The pain was nothing that wouldn't get better with time, but losing the way I did made me sicker than anything.

A cyborg in a nurse's outfit came around, a metal skeleton with a human face. "You are Omega right?" He face was full of confusion.

"That's me."

"A person calling themselves your manager came in looking to visit, and I was wondering if you wanted a visitor at the moment considering your condition."

I had a visitor? Strange, but the universe has been stranger, perhaps it could be the others making it through…I'll play this game a little longer.

"Let 'em in."

The nurse walked out of the doorframe and beckoned at the 'manager', I heard the footsteps as they clicked down the hall. Then a woman came into the room as well: her skin well tanned, white hair wrapped on a complex bun, and sporting tattoos on her face.

A series of red stars.

"Omega!" Hild approached the bed and softly placed a hand on my chest. "Thank goodness! You know, I was actually worried about you for a second."


	4. The Show Must Go On

"Ah, you don't look so bad, Hild." I groaned.

She waved off the nurse, and as she left, the door shut at Hild's whim. She took up a chair next to the bed, and with a bit of effort, I turned over to her.

"So this wasn't some elaborate plot to get me killed?"

"Not at all! If you died I'd have to notify your next of kin," She said with a hint of amusement. "And that would be a hassle I don't want to deal with."

I humored her. "How bad could it have been?"

"You would have gotten punched in the face just for showing up."

"Sounds like a relative of mine." I held back a chuckle; my ribs weren't up for it. "But my armor and weapons-"

"Are taken care of." Hild pointed at the corner of the room, and everything I had on me was there. "The alloys aren't familiar, but nothing my best mechanic can't handle."

"So I guess the small talk is over." I took a few labored breaths. "Why have you come here?"

"I wondered if you wanted to watch the game with me. It's going to be a great one."

The Championship Race! I must have been out for a while. "Sounds good, but this room doesn't have a…" She turned my head to the room's far wall, where a large television now was affixed, showing a live feed of the match..

"Hey."

"Hmm?"

"Do you ever get tired of having that kind of power?"

Hild smirked. "Sometimes. But every visit to Earth allows me to do something fun."

We watched the competitors walk out to their positions. Alita's team the same as before, but her weapon was different now; instead of two slender elbow blades she now had one large blade. On the other side was Jashugan, who came out with both arms this time; guess the rumors about this being his last race were true, he wants to go all out.

We would see the whole race, and while I was cheering Hild merely smiled at my amusement. The champion had gear-like arms that tore metal to ribbons, along with the strength to move even massive Tiegel around. But as only Alita was left to challenge, she and Jashugan shared some words between each other. I couldn't make any of it out, but whatever it was, the battle kicked into second gear, and the champ was on his heels! Alita was pulling an amazing set of skills, but she was thrown down brutally.

Then Tiegel came from out of nowhere and rammed into Jashugan, and some time during the pin Tiegel's engine must have blew as his chassis erupted into flames. I sprung up from the gurney, ignoring the pain, shocked at the explosion. The explosion seemed to kill them both, only for Jashugan to shamble out of the wreckage and manage to completely destroy Alita's lower body before fully dying. I slumped back down, Hild yawned and stretched out in her chair.

"So," She started. "Was it what you expected?"

"I…" There weren't any words I had to describe what transpired.

"Calm down. You may be built for war, but not every fight is about life or death."

My eyes widened; there was no way she knew how I was born! Even still, her words brought me to a revelation. "No fight is just about life or death, it's about identity. That's what Alita and Jashugan were talking about down there wasn't it?"

Hild nodded. "Not bad. Did you see it earlier when you fought her?"

I racked my brain and only found a sense of inner ferocity during our fight, instead of the stern warrior I saw on TV. "Not really."

She got up and left for the door. "You'll get another chance tomorrow. Just try not to lose any more blood, it's quite precious."

The door closed and left me to ponder, only for someone else to butt in.

_"So are you done trying to kill yourself?"_

"Why do you care?"

_"I don't think you know what dying feels like, well I do; it sucks hard, man. So stop being so reckless and you'll hear less of me."_

I turned restlessly. "At least when I fight, I get to be myself. When I'm with your friends, they ask me to be you. It's quite infuriating."

_"What makes you think that?"_

"I can tell by how they look at me, especially Epsilon. I have these marks for a reason. They miss you a lot."

Mark was silent for a moment after my remark. _"Epsilon brought me in, he most likely feels guilty about my death."_

"They're all guilty, but there's no point; the dead are dead. I moved on, you moved on, they should have as well. Doesn't matter to me, they revived me because of who I am; so why do I have to be different?" My head started to throb badly and a strange woman flashed behind my eyelids.

"A-Are these your memories?"

_"No. Take care of those scars, something bad might happen."_

The day passed, and the next morning I was woken up by shouts coming down the hall. The next thing that happens is that the doors open and an disbelieving Alita steps out and locks it behind her. She breathes a sigh of relief before noticing me staring at her. Her civilian body was clothed in a black skintight suit with a trenchcoat over it, and her face was wide-eyed and round with full lips. Somehow, Alita 'The Killing Angel', managed to look even younger then on the track. If it wasn't for the markings under her eyes, I would have thought she was a different person.

"Still not used to the crowds huh?"

"Got worse now," She huffed. "Way worse than before."

I broke out laughing, and she pouted at me. "Of course they are, you're the Motorball Champion!"

My words seemed to darken her mood. Alita decided to stand over my bed, just to look me over. "I don't think I deserved the title."

I shrugged, while I wanted to pick up her demeanor but she was right; she didn't really beat Jashugan. "Yeah, but you're the last one standing; them's the breaks. Speaking of that, what happened to Tiegel? That explosion looked bad…"

Alita's head hung even lower. "He burned from the inside out. There wasn't even enough left to salvage."

"Damn. He had a ton of heart, but if we had to choose a way to go I'd hope it's like that." Silence fell into the room. "Well since I'm not doing all that well choosing topics, do you have anything to ask me?"

Before she spoke, she pulled off my blanket to reveal my wounds, which had somewhat mended. "You're still mostly flesh."

"All of me is flesh." I pointed to my armor and weapons. "Over there is all the metal I have to my name."

"Then how then were you able to fight on our level?"

"Uh…ummm…what's the easiest way I could explain this to a cyborg…have you ever heard of chi?"

Alita face lit up at the question. "Of course; mastery of chi is necessary for my martial arts."

"That's interesting. I don't know what chi is to you, but to me it is the life force throughout my body. I guess you could say I was born with more chi than others. With it, I can push myself farther than most. But how can you push a machine past its limit?"

"It's a matter of timing; doing the right action at the right time. Chi is about focus, not strength."

I looked back with my fight with Gamma and I knew how he kept beating me. "Well thanks for that. Be useful for a rematch when I get out, you up for it?

"That was my last race, I'm retired."

"Really? Well what are you going to do for yourself then?"

"I've got some work lined up as a songstress."

"Where?"

"Bar Kansas, across town."

"I'll be there. I've always wanted to here an angel sing."

Her smile was soft and it made me feel better as she walked away. "Alita." I said before she got through the door. "You're looking for who you are right? I hope you find it."

She was confused at my remark but nodded in sincerity before leaving. As soon as the door clicked shut, my scars reacted to a incredible and focused source of rage. During it I had more visions: a twisted cross, a man without a face, and worst of all a mutilated Alita. I had to warn her, so I threw on my armor and made for the door. On the doorknob however was Hild's sigil, and I knew I wouldn't be coming back.

I opened the door anyway, and found the rest of the guys waiting around for me back where I started before this whole Scrapyard mess.

"Good to see you back Omega." Rho welcomed.

"What happened? What did Hild have to say?" Gamma asked.

"Just some words about me," I answered. "I think she does know who we are somehow."

Gamma's obsidian hand clenched into a fist and the air around it rippled with heat.

Upsilon moved towards me. "Did you learn anything?"

"Well I met a series of powerful cyborgs…"

_"Hey look…"_ Psyche said. At the door a slot opened up and two tapes slid out. Rho picked them up and inspected each one before giving them to Upsilon.

"I think this is your department."

Upsilon looked at them for a few seconds. "German, of course: Panzer Kunst or 'Armored Art', and Maschine Klatsch or 'Machine Splash'. These seem to be combat forms; very useful indeed."

"Panzer Kunst…" Gamma repeated when he calmed down. "You didn't happen to meet a young girl with octopus lips did you Omega?"

"They were puffy, but I wouldn't go as far as to compare them to an octopus."

"At least you had a friend there." Gamma touched the door and set it on fire. "I think we need to move faster to find Epsilon, he's all alone out there."

* * *

_They might have what it takes, but all seven of them have to be together to beat Hild._

_It will take nothing less..._


End file.
